Athletics

Game Summaries

Junior Varsity Lacrosse, Spring 2008

EWS 1 – Johnstown 14

The JV lacrosse season got started at Johnstown’s wonderful turf field. This was the first game for many of our players, and we were extremely pleased to final see the results of their hard work in the preseason. We used the game as a way to master the rules, get a sense of the game, and try players out at different positions. We were really impressed with the low defenders, especially with the play of Ellen, Janice, Aly, and Laura. They did a great job of marking up on their players and making it tough for Johnstown to move the ball. A variety of people played midfield, but the hustle of Devon, Yukiko, and Kelly was especially impressive. Kelly moved to the midfield line from a low attacking position in the second half and was quite successful at helping us to transition the ball down the field; she also scored our lone goal off a rebound. We were pleased with the speed of many of our new players, who all became more and more confident as the game progressed. The stars of this game were two first time goalies, Jee and Liz. Jee played a phenomenal first half, stopping 10 shots, and Liz kept us in the game by coming up with 4 saves. We look forward to keeping up the level of play for Wednesday’s game at RPI.

EWS 5 –Averill Park 14

Emma Willard hosted Averill Park on the turf at RPI. It was a blustery day, but the girls pushed on and played strong. Goalie Jee had an amazing game with over 14 saves and played with an incredible defense led by Ellen, Janice, Yukiko, Laura, and Anna. The first half was a toss up with great transition up and down the field. It took Averill Park quite some time before they were able to sneak that little yellow ball by us; however, we did not let up. Emma girls kept driving to the goal and making good passes, especially one perfect pass from Anna to Aly. Our hard work eventually paid off with a great goal by Tiffany to light the fire in our offense. The first half ended with a small difference of five between Emma and our competitors.

Emma decided that things were going to change in the second half and came out with intensity and heart. Kelly experienced her first draw and Rae, Mizuki, Liz, and Corrine worked hard to fight for each ground ball. Devon used her speed and agility to drive to the goal, making four shots. The game ended 5-14, with Averill Park taking the win, but the coaches were proud of the outstanding improvement from the first game to now and really see the girls utilizing drills from practices. Emma Willard will host South Glens Falls on April 10 at 5:30.

EWS 1 – South Glens Falls 15

Emma faced the tough checking team of South Glens Falls for our first home game. South Glens Falls had an outstanding center, who was highly successful at controlling the draws. This proved to be a challenge for our team, because   the ball spent much of the game at our defensive end. Our low defense played an outstanding game, marking up tightly and collapsing on driving forwards. Rae transitioned from the midfield into a low defense position and did a great job moving into that challenging role. She was helped by the outstanding play of Laura, Yukiko, and Janice, who also had some excellent carriers up the field. While we had trouble with ground balls, our transitions improved significantly in the second half. This allowed the team to generate more scoring opportunities. Corinne put the ball in the net in the second half after a great drive down the field. Our star again was Jee, with 17 saves, and she did a great job clearing the ball. We hope to improve our ground ball pickups and use our speed for our next game against rival Albany Academy.

EWS 2 – AAG 5

Emma Willard JV lacrosse traveled to Albany Academy for Girls to compete against our rivals for the first time this season. Emma girls started the game strong and completely dominated the first half of the game. Ellen scored our first goal and from there on we kept the ball offensively. As AAG regained possession, our strong defensive players, Yukiko and Janice, worked hard to prevent them from scoring and transitioning the ball back to offense. As the first half came to an end, Kelly scored our second goal, giving us a 2-1 lead at the half. The second half presented more of a challenge, and although we worked hard, we struggled keeping the ball on offense. Liz had a great roll around the crease and a hard shot on goal, which just missed and bounced off the post. Our amazing first year goalie, Jee Yoon, had 11 saves and allowed only 5 shots by her throughout the game. Emma Willard ended the game in a 5-2 loss, but more than ready to challenge Albany Academy once more on our home field Thursday, April 17.  

EWS 10 – AAG 11

In the best game thus far in the season, the JV lacrosse team faced off for the second time this week against rival AAG. In the last game, we were unsuccessful at completing passes, picking up ground balls, and stopping their strongest players from driving to goal. We were also unsuccessful at putting the ball in the net. Today’s game was a completely different story. Both teams came out much stronger, with crisp passing, strong defense, and a much higher scoring game. For the first time, our transitions down the field were successful time after time. Kelly, Yukiko, Janice, Lizzy, and Laura all had great carries down the field. Rae did a great job moving from low defense to play a defensive wing, playing tight defense, and then cradling the ball from end to end. At the other end, our low offense did a great job of receiving passes off the transition. Ellen, Aly, Sarah, Liz, and Corinne made wonderful catches and then continued on to goal. Corinne had her break-out offensive game, moving through double teams to score 6 goals. Tiff and Kelly both made great shots to contribute a goal each, and Devon used her speed to tack on 2 more. At the other end of the field, Jee played a great game, as usual, coming up with 6 saves. The game remained close through its entire duration. At the half, we were tied at sixes. Neither team would let the other score without fighting back to tie it up again. With two minutes to play, Emma was down 10-9, when Corinne put one in the back of the net. AAG’s speedy center came down the field to make it 11-10. With 15 seconds left, we were given 2 free positions in a row to tie the game up, but the angles were too low to get off a good shot. It was a great effort by both teams, and we look forward to keeping up this high level of play when we return next week.

EWS 6 – Schuylerville 3

Emma Willard JV Jesters hosted Schuylerville and earned their first win of the season. Our girls started the game determined and with high energy level. After an effective warm-up, Kelly started the game with a key draw, giving us possession right away, and quickly scoring with a great shot by Ellen. Our other goal came shortly after the first by Liz, who made a fantastic roll around the crease, throwing off her defender, and easily sliding the ball by the goalie. Ellen scored yet again for us in the beginning of the first half, and we offensively dominated until the end. As the second half began, Schuylerville put up a fight, but our amazing goalie, Jee Yoon, made it extremely difficult for them. Our second half goals came from Devon and Ellen, with the help of our offense running some of the plays we have worked on in practice. Sara, Rae, Tiffany, and Mizuki played an amazing game, really showing heart and aggression. Eva and Janice had an excellent defensive game, driving girls out of bounds or forcing them to pass or drop the ball. The game ended in a 6-3 victory for Emma Willard.

EWS 6 – Glens Falls 8

The JV lacrosse team shrugged off the "ferocious" rain and took to the field to face off against Glens Falls. Following our splendid victory on Thursday, the team was looking forward to continuing our high level of play, which, of course, we did. The Glens Falls team was quite strong. They passed well, had good transitions, and were very aggressive. Our team stepped right up to meet the challenge. Of course, we had strong defense behind our all-star team of Janice, Eva, Yukiko, and Laura. Our opponents were unable to break through the team very often, and when they did, our stellar goalies, Liz and Jee, usually shut them down. Our transition, led by Rae, Kelly, Janice, Mizuki, and Yukiko, helped us to get the ball down the field, fending off the tough defense of Glens Falls. At the half, we were tied 3-3, after nice goals from Corinne and Ellen.

Our attack had trouble in the second half, partially because we lost our speedy center, Devon, to an injury. In the second half, we also struggled with the draw. Glens Falls did a nice job gaining control and getting the ball down into our end. They scored five unanswered goals, before we decided to step it up. We had several nice drives by Kelly, Liz, and Tiff, but were turned away. Sarah, Anna B, and Aly all made nice catches and ground ball pick ups, but were unable to set up good scoring opportunities. After setting up around the arc, Liz made an outstanding pass to Ellen, who bounced it past their goalie. With time running out, Tiff decided to take matters into her own hands. She picked up ground balls, caught tough passes, and drove to goal. In one particularly brilliant maneuver, she found herself double teamed, pivoted left, and then pivoted right to shoot and score. We ran out of time before our scoring streak allowed us to tie the game, but we were extremely pleased with the team’s effort.

EWS 1 – Scotia 13

The game started off slowly, with Scotia dominating the field and Emma girls trying to figure out new positions due to injuries and sickness. Rae and Yukiko stepped up to the plate in a time of need to play center and take the draws. They both played amazingly, especially since they never practiced there before. Liz B started off in goal and did fantastic; Scotia was a strong offense team, constantly shooting. She ended her half of the game with an incredible 9 saves.

As the second half began, Emma came out with much more intensity. We were able to work the ball up the field to Ellen, who made a great crease roll shot pulling us out of an offensive slump. As the second half progressed, our defense held strong with Janice making lots of steals and long runs up the field to transition the ball. Eva did a wonderful job of forcing girls to pass or drop the ball. Jee Yoon confidently tended goal to finish the game with 5 saves. Although the game ended in a loss for Emma, our spirit never let down.

EWS 3 – Holy Names 13

Emma traveled across town to face off against Holy Names. Our opponents jumped to an early lead, controlling the draw, transitioning the ball quickly down the field, and setting up nice plays to score. They had several very speedy players, who were able to break past our defense. We tried to shift players around to different positions on the field, but we became tired and we lacked a large bench to give the team breaks. We were especially in trouble without our speedy center Kelly, who is out with an injury. Liz kept us in the game with her fantastic play in goal, coming up with 10 saves. In the first half, Yukiko carried the ball down the field and buried it in the net for her first goal ever.

In the second half, we started to play better. Janice, Laura, and Yukiko did a great job applying a play we worked on in practice, which allowed us to escape from double teams and move the ball across the field. Devon also really helped us to get the ball to the other end, but she was unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities. It was tough to break through the strong defense of Holy Names, but Corinne and Mizuki both scored off of beautiful plays. Tiff, Rae, and Eva played tight defense, especially in the second half, and Jee really stepped up to make some nice saves and clears to keep Holy Names from scoring as many goals in the second half. Emma hopes to regroup from the loss and recover from injuries as we play Schenectady on Monday.

EWS 13 – Schenectady 7

Emma Willard hosted Schenectady on Cinco de Mayo and won the game 13-7! We had our good luck fan, Mr. Berry, on our side, and the girls were working well together with intensity and heart. The first half brought some amazing offensive plays with Devon making incredible runs to goal using her ridiculous speed and Corinne dodging left to right to beat her defenders and score. Tiffany and Liz both scored off a free position with beautiful shots to the back of the net. Anna B had a great first half, making a nice interception and shortly after making a long carry up the field and with a quick switch of hands she made her first goal. Liz also received a long pass from Devon followed by a crease roll shot. The first half ended with Emma in the lead 9-4.  

Our defense played amazing throughout the game. Mizuki, Rae, Laura, Janice, and Yukiko worked hard pushing our opponents out of bounds and making great passes to transition the ball up the field. Kelly, Devon, Corinne, and Sara made great offensive plays and shots to give us an outstanding lead and finish the game with our second win of the season 13-9!

EWS 3 – Greenwich 13

Emma got started quickly against a tough opponent from Greenwich. After playing strong defense, Janice grabbed the ball, carried it down the field, and passed it off to Tiff. Facing tough defense, Tiff was forced to roll left and then roll back to the right before shooting to score. It was a great start and got the team fired up. Greenwich answered back with 2 goals, before we came up with another opportunity. Tiff carried the ball down the field again and shot, but Greenwich’s goalie came up with a beautiful save. However, Ellen grabbed the rebound and put it in the net. At this point, Emma seemed to lose momentum, despite the fact that we were keeping up with a strong team. We had trouble marking up on some of their speedy midfielders who consistently made nice passes to the low offenders. Janice, Yukiko, Rae, and Laura kept us in the game by playing strong defense, and Jee came up with save after save (a total of 13). We also struggled on transitioning the ball, because Greenwich did a great job intercepting our long passes. Devon and Tiff did a fantastic job hustling down the field with the ball. On offense, we had good drives, but our opponent’s goalie came up with several nice saves off of free positions. One opportunity came when Anna L set a pick to free up Corinne, who then carried the ball in to score. Liz also won a groundball pickup, and drove to goal, putting away a nice shot. The team is looking forward to another chance to faceoff against rival Holy Names on Monday.

EWS 5 –Holy Names 8

Emma Willard Jesters hosted Holy Names, playing them for the second time this season. Our first game against them ended with a 3-13 loss for Emma. We were determined that would not happen at our house. The game was held at equal levels between both teams, although we did not have as much success at getting the ball in the net at first. Holy Names has a strong offensive team, but our defense repeatedly shot them down. We had Jee Yoon in goal with a game total of 15 saves, and Rae, Yukiko, Janice, and Laura worked together to fluster the other team, make smart checks, and work together to transition the ball to our offense. Both Janice and Laura intercepted and blocked passes from the other team using their amazing skills and intimidation tactics. On the offensive side we had great runs and shots on goal. Liz B played a great offensive game, making some nice rolls, being patient, and waiting for the right moment. She also made some great passes to Corinne and Ellen, allowing them to make a nice shot on goal. Devon and Tiffany used their speed and aggression to continuously win ground balls and fly past the defense in transition. Our offense grew throughout the game, ultimately leading to a second half win for us 4-2. The coaches could not have been happier with the improvement and heart the girls put forth into the game and the way they utilized skills from practice, even though the final score produced a loss for Emma. The Jesters will face Schenectady for the second time on Wednesday.

EWS 10 – Schenectady 4

Emma took our third victory today at Schenectady. While we had defeated Schenectady earlier in the season, we knew we could not be overconfident stepping out onto the field, as our opponents had a strong center and were a very aggressive team. As the game opened up, Schenectady’s center took the draw, carried it down the field, and scored almost immediately. Emma was not deterred by their quick goal and managed to settle down on defense, shutting down several of their drives to goal. Rae, Eva, Yukiko, and Janice all kept their feet moving and collapsed on Schenectady’s driving forwards. Jee came up huge for us, with 8 saves in the first half. On the other end of the field, we weren’t getting the ball in the net for several minutes. Eventually, however, Ellen picked up a ground ball in the arc and scored. Our next goal came when the other team was offsides and Liz was given a free position; she scored off a well positioned long shot. Later in the half, Corinne carried the ball down the field, passed it to Ellen, who made a great pass to Aly in the arc. Aly turned and shot to score. Corinne then drove the ball and shot a beauty into the top left corner of the net. At the end of the first half, we were up 5-1.

In the second half, the ball was in our defensive end for remarkably little of the game. Whenever it made it to the other end, our defense did a great job of regaining possession and transitioning the ball up the field through our midfield players. Devon, Mizuki, Tiff, and Anna B all had wonderful carries, with Anna showing off her remarkable ability to switch hands to protect the ball. After Schenectady scored off a long drive, Mizuki picked up the ball, carried it behind the net, faked a drive, and then passed it off to Anna, who quick-sticked it into the goal for her first goal of the season. Later, Kelly blocked a goalie clear, which Liz picked up and scored off of. Liz scored her third goal when she broke through the defense on a crease roll. We had another first time scorer in Rae, who carried it down the field, drew a penalty and scored off of a free position. Our final goal came when Anna moved the ball down the field, switched hands, and passed to Ellen, who put it away. With 45 seconds left, Schenectady carried the ball down the field and took a great shot, but Jee was able to block it, putting her game total at 11 saves. It was a great team effort by all, and we hope to carry this momentum forward into our final game on Monday!